Soft Starter Panels

For soft starter panels, the enclosures vary by application. The factors that affect the enclosure type are real estate planning, heat dissipation, switching noise, electromagnetic interference (EMI), panel pressurization, and digital equipment housing. Depending on the application, soft starters and motor control panels dissipate more heat compared to other panels. Furthermore, motor control panels and soft starter panels generate more EMI than other panels. PLC panels, for example, produce less EMI and dissipate less heat.

Purged panels are built specifically for use in classified areas where inflammable gases or dust particles are present. To prevent any contaminants, enter the enclosure, the panel is purged with air or an inert gas with a positive pressure difference between the inside and outside of the panel (ie. higher gas pressure inside the panel). Naturally, purged panels have additional pressurization components built in. Solution Control Systems will ensure the purged panel is tested to air leaks or loss of pressure, to ensure the reliability of the panel in your application. Purged panels will not generally have an air intake section like other panels. Depending on the heat dissipation requirement, the purged air/gas quantity will be calculated by Solution Control Systems to optimize the efficiency of the panel.

To reduce EMI induced noise, the panels will be built with galvanized mounting plates which are grounded exceptionally well.

Motor control panels and soft starter panels are any standard ventilated panels where the main sources of heat are the load current and the switching thyristors and contactors. Soft starter panels have thyristors for switching the voltage control and thus reduces the in-rush current during the starting of the motor, and once the speed reaches to full speed, the bypass contactors will switch on and thyristors will be switched off. CE certified starters will not require any additional filters whereas non-CE certified starters may require additional filters. Soft starter panel offer very high efficiency with a reduced voltage drop across thyristors.